Over 300 entries submitted for the Republic's first newspaper advertising awards competition in six years. Entrants highlighted the power of newspaper advertising, writes Claire Shoesmith

Hundreds of people from Ireland's advertising and newspaper industries gathered in Dublin last night for the country's first newspaper advertising awards ceremony in six years.

The event, organised by the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI), marked the end of a creative challenge entitled "What's so powerful about press ads?"

The competition invited agency copywriters and art directors to create a press advert or campaign that articulated the power of newspaper advertising.

The association received almost 300 entries, a result it described as "phenomenal".

"The success of our creative challenge shows the affection and esteem in which newspapers are still held," Maeve Donovan, a member of the NNI's management committee and managing director of the Irish Times Ltd, told the 500-strong audience gathered at Dublin's RDS.

"A big part of this initiative was about getting people to think positively about our medium, forget any preconceptions and just focus on the creative possibilities. And from that point of view we couldn't be happier with the outcome."

The entries were judged by Luke Sullivan, a well-known and multi-award winning US creative design director and author of "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This," a dos and don'ts guide to the advertising industry.

Mr Sullivan, who launched the competition in Dublin in January, said that selecting a winner was not as difficult as it sounds as he was assisted by several other senior creatives from his US creative agency, GSD&M. The final decision, he said, was unanimous.

The two top awards, the overall Grand Prix prize and the Best Copywriting trophy went to a duo from Dublin-based advertising agency Chemistry.

The winning campaign will be published throughout the range of NNI titles - a total of 18 newspapers - over the coming months.

The award for the Best Art Direction went to Gerry Kennedy and Emma Hogan of McConnells advertising agency for their "Ideas" campaign.

Speaking at the award ceremony, guest speaker Albert Kelly, creative director of San Francisco-based advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners, said: "No matter how the industry evolves, I believe that newspapers will always have one very important thing going for them - the personal, tactile sensation of reading.

"Reading a newspaper is a ritual," he told the gathered audience.

"A newspaper has the unique ability to engage your mind while transporting you away from your surroundings. Someday portable, folding plasma screen technology may provide a digital version. But not yet."

Ms Donovan and the other guest speaker Peter Stabler, media chief at Goodby Silverstein, also highlighted the importance of newspapers as a unique source of advertising.

"This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first printed newspaper and, although there has never been more competition among media on a global scale, newspapers have never been in better health," Ms Donovan told the audience of advertising and newspaper representatives.

"Here in Ireland, NNI titles have invested millions in state- of-the-art new colour production facilities; we've become leaders in merchandising; we're aggressively targeting consumers; and ironically, the internet has now become a critical part of our product and brand mix.

"Overall newspapers have become more commercial, more responsive and more imaginative in the way we operate," she said.

Although the digital age has brought a wide range of choices to consumers, newspapers are still hugely influential, according to Mr Stable, whose agency has worked on campaigns for big names including Nike, Polaroid, HP, Budweiser and Haagen-Daaz.

According to US market research company Erdos and Morgan, nowadays in the US, newspapers occupy five of the top 15 spots when ranked on level of influence and credibility by top business leaders.

For media planners, those deciding what medium to use for adverts, the "unparalleled authority and influence" enjoyed by newspapers, rather than size of circulation, is of "paramount importance", said Mr Stabler.

Following an address by the two guest speakers, Ms Donovan thanked all the copywriters and art directors who had taken part in the creative challenge.

"In every competition there are prizes and no doubt the prospect of winning the cash and the kudos was an obvious incentive," she said. "I'm sure the ideas of having one's work assessed by an advertising legend like Luke Sullivan was also very appealing."

In addition to the three main prizes, Mr Sullivan, who is the group creative head at GSD&M in Austin, Texas, and has represented clients including United Airlines, Lee Jeans, Porsche and BMW, awarded the €1,000 student prize to Damien Reid, an MSc advertising student.

He also highlighted six other ads or campaigns to receive a "highly-commended" recommendation.

This is the first time the NNI awards have been held since 1999, when it was a bi-annual event. A spokesman for the group said that after the success of last night, it hopes to reinstate it as an annual event.

Ms Donovan last night announced a new challenge for this year aimed at putting 20 of Ireland's leading advertising agencies with 20 small Irish food and drink producers to test the effectiveness of newspaper advertising. Other agencies who entered the "What's so powerful about press ads?" competition include Owens DDB, which submitted 32 entries from individual creative directors within the company; QMP Publicis; Irish International BBDO; Javelin Young & Rubicam; RSCG; Greyhelme; Bloom; Bonfire, Ogilvy & Mather and TMP Advertising.